Larkin Byers/Byas/Bias of Amherst Co. VA

This is not my line, but I recently discovered a piece of information at the Library of Virginia which may help people researching the line of Larkin Byers/Byas/Bias, the son of James Byas and Elizabeth Larkin who settled in Amherst county, Virginia right after its formation from Albemarle county in about 1761.

In Archey Rowsey’s 1812 petition to the Virginia Legislature for a divorce from his wife Betsey Noel, there is an affidavit on behalf of Archey from Larkin Byers, who identifies himself as “…married to Betsey Noel’s father’s sister.”There is also an affidavit on behalf of Archey from Betsey’s brother William Noel.I do not have copies of these affidavits, but for those interested in further research, it is in the “Legislative Petitions, 1776-1865,” Records Group 78, reel 10, box 12, folder 36.

So Larkin Byers’ wife’s maiden name must have been NOEL.Their daughter Phoebe Byers/Bias Bryant was married to Archey’s son James Rowsey right before Archey filed his divorce petition.